


Rain

by caramelcat



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, a little bit, aftermath AU, based on an au from donitkitt on tumblr, ig lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-10 20:51:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20534417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caramelcat/pseuds/caramelcat
Summary: Raphael makes breakfast in the morning on a regular day. With every step forward, one backwards is bound to come.





	Rain

**Author's Note:**

> this is a short lil thing based on donitkitts aftermath au.. i had originally planned on writing more but i liked how it ended n honestly felt like putting smth up now since its been awhile ! enjoy!! check out the au, its rlly good, and his arts amazing !  
my tumblr is fightown :- )

There were days where it seemed progress,  _ recovery _ , was consistent, a slow ticking continuation toward a flickering light of hopefulness and peace. Others, there seemed to be a ceaseless rain pouring down on them, hindering and muddling any sort of light. On those days, there was a 50/50 chance of arguments breaking out, of either a mutual understanding of acceptance and forgiveness blanketing them all into wordlessly helping each other, or of a tension so sharp a single look could turn into a fight. They all had disagreements about things regarding their status, their health, of each other, but one could only do or handle so much; it was easier to let the other have full control of how they thought it best to deal with their physical or mental problems. Even if it seemed more detrimental. More harmful. More rain coming down.

It started off simple. A hint of what was to come. It was dark in their underground home, with light only spilling from Donnie's lab throughout the night and the kitchen come morning. Mikey had sat at the table as Raph started breakfast. It was a calming task with a satisfying end. He liked to do Mikey's first and keep an eye on him as he did the others' and his. How slow or fast he ate and how much was usually a good indicator of how Mikey's day would play out. 

Raph fed him the same thing he had been eating the past week: a portion of watermelon and a yogurt cup. It was small, not the most nutritionally sound, and, in his opinion, boring, but that wasn't important. What was significant was that fact that Mikey has been consistently eating all of it, with the exception of a day or two of not eating entirely all the watermelon. Once Raph found a meal or a thing that sort of resembled a meal in any case, he was quick to remember it and try to give it to Mikey as much as possible. He'd guessed that the familiarity of the same things was comforting to Mikey and made things slightly easier. Slightly was more than enough motivation to be making the same things over and over for him. And while Mikey could have easily gotten himself his breakfast, Raph figured that the regularity of him doing it was as much of a comfort as familiar foods. They all needed stability, even just a little.

This all leads to now, the present time, when morning has truly come and most everyone is stirring and awakening into their days. Donnie stays in his lab. Raph cooks. Leo enters and sits on the couch. Mikey eats his -

Mikey  _ picks  _ at his food. Mikey doesn't eat it. He attempts to eat it, spoon swirling in the yogurt as he warily eyes the watermelon. He gets through half the yogurt before he stops. Raph studies him to gauge how bad today is going to be. If one is off, the others will be too. Mikey looks exhausted, as if sleep hadn't come to him at all last night. He's tense but his eyes aren't frantic. There's a sort of melancholic acceptance to him. Maybe the war of eating is too exhausting for him today, and this is a battle lost. The question is: how many more battles will be lost today? 

Raph feels annoyance stir in his chest, his own body becoming tense. He wants to understand. Mikey had been fine with this for the past  _ week,  _ and now it's suddenly not okay? It's too hard for him? It's  _ watermelon _ . It's  _ yogurt _ . It was  _ fine _ . He had been doing good. What will lunch be like? Usually as the day progresses, Mikey becomes more comfortable, as if he just needs to warm up before eating real food. Lunch could mean a good soup or even a sandwich. Will dinner be the same, or even worse?

These thoughts are swirling in his head when Mikey's voice pipes up.

"I'm done. Thanks, Raph."

It's not as strong as it has been the past couple of days. He puts on a relaxed face when he turns towards Mike's own apprehensive one.

"Okay," is all he says. Really, what more can he say?

His scar aches. He's starting to feel the drag of it all, increasing more when Mikey still looks unsure and  _ afraid _ . Always afraid. He figures that they probably all still look like that to some degree in their own ways. Mikey has already timidly made his way to the couch with Leo as he finishes the thought. His anxiety seems to be heightened to where even their safest place is dangerous and something to be wary of. He wishes Mikey could feel safe like he does when they're in here.

_ Something to keep working on, _ he thinks.  _ There's no point in wishing when that gets you nowhere. _

He feels oddly calm; he muses as he turns back to making omelets on the stove Don had once installed somehow. He figures he's going to be taking the role of the level-headed one today. Someone must. He's reminded of the time when after hearing what Donnie had to say about Mikey's eating disorder, of all the things he wouldn't be able to eat that he used to love. All because of  _ him _ . He was frustrated; he was angry. He fumed and he cursed and he certainly wasn't level-headed. Jones came by soon after and heard what Don had learned. He took one look at Mikey, then Raph, and left. He arrived 20 minutes later with a carton of eggs in his hands, slightly out of breath.

"They're soft. Plus protein and stuff." he had said.

Raph was surprised enough to calm down in that moment. Now, he is pretty confident in his cooking skills in regards to Mike. Eggs  _ were _ a good idea, he would admit. And omelets are always easy enough to make for everyone else when he makes simple scrambled eggs for Mikey. He hasn't been in the mood for them lately, however, and obviously not today either. He tries anyway.

"Do you want anything else, Mike? Eggs?" he calls out.

He sees Mikey jump out of the corner of his eye. He curses silently.

"Oh, uh, no. No, thanks." he says softly, but his body is screaming. Tense, sweaty, twitchy…

_ No more mention of food. Got it. _

Raph nods, "Okay."

What more can he say?

**Author's Note:**

> i hope u enjoyed and tht i did this au some justice !


End file.
